John Doe:: Forever hasn’t happened yet (Album Review)Recently, while having drinks with a couple of twenty-somethings, I found myself recommending the first couple of X albums. I was greeted with blank stares. “X? Who are X?”. That shook me to my punk rock foundations. Are there really rock and roll fans in their twenties who missed out on one of the greatest bands ever? Apparently so. But thankfully one of them went out and bought “Los Angeles” the next day. And now, another recommendation, “Forever hasn’t happened yet”, the new solo album from X founding member John Doe. Much well deserved praise has already been heaped upon this album. But how can you lose? John Doe has one of the most resonantly beautiful voices ever created. And he has teamed up with some real fine folk here. Kristin Hersh, Dave Alvin, Grant Lee Phillips, even his own daughter Veronica Jane pitches in vocally on track three. And my God, the genius of having Neko Case sing Exene’s lyrics on “Hwy 5” in astounding. The opening track, “The Losing Kind” is an organ drenched blues ballad that will make Jack White swoon. “Heartless” is a swaggering, staggering pop gem. And the aforementioned “Hwy 5” is that long lost X track we all suspected was locked in a vault somewhere. Much ado has been made of “Ready”, an ode to tragic friends (Darby Crash, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Elliot Smith) who lost lifes’ battle too soon. I think this is the weakest track on the album, although the soaring harmonies with Kristin Hersh redeem it somewhat. Of course the ghosts of X and The Knitters haunt all of these songs. But John Doe has managed to marry the Blues and Punk Rock with a pop sensibility, and still make an original album. Not an easy task, but I suppose that’s what he’s been doing so beautifully for the past 25 years. (Review by: LAM)